1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fiber optic cable and a fiber optic cable assembly that provide wireless access to a high speed data network without requiring horizontal wiring (either electrical or optical) and expensive converters for each end user. The fiber optic cable and fiber optic cable assembly allow for the installation of a wireless network, or a portion thereof, based on multiple cells all within a single fiber optic cable. A new multi-connection connector is also disclosed that may be used with the present invention.
2. Technical Background
Optical fiber is increasingly being used for a variety of broadband communications including voice, video, and data transmissions. With this increase in the speed of delivery of these transmissions comes the expectation that these higher speeds will be available at all locations, particularly within a working environment, e.g., an office building. While the technology exists for the higher bandwidth, high bandwidth fiber optic cables are not typically distributed to the end users due to the costs of running optical fibers to each desk and the costs of the optical transmitters and receivers that are required for each end user. Additionally, the current horizontal copper cabling provides adequate bandwidth, but it may not provide adequate bandwidth for much longer. While there are some wireless solutions, they tend to be overwhelmed as the users' needs increase, requiring additional access points and the attendant additional wiring for those access points. Thus, there is a need for a high bandwidth solutions that are easier and less expensive to deploy than optical fibers to each end user or additional horizontal copper cabling.